Marx's concept of false consciousness — the failure of the working class to recognise the true cause of their oppression — is shattered in Mickey's cry. For most of the play, Mickey accepts his disadvantages as natural or as bad luck: he does not see the CLASS SYSTEM as the cause of his suffering. But in this moment, false consciousness breaks: Mickey suddenly sees that his poverty, his unemployment, his depression are not personal failures but the predictable results of a system that advantages people like Edward at the expense of people like him. Marx would argue that this moment of class consciousness — recognising that one's individual suffering is caused by structural inequality — is the necessary first step toward revolution. But Russell's tragedy lies in the timing: Mickey achieves class consciousness too late. The knowledge that could have been liberating instead becomes destructive — he cannot change the system, only rage against it. Revolution becomes grief.